GUIDE · INDICATORS

Alpha Structure

Alpha Structure is the map layer of the suite. It tags every confirmed swing, names every break as continuation or reversal, draws the trendlines, the order blocks, the fair value gaps and the liquidity levels, and clears each one the moment price invalidates it. The chart shows what is live, not a history of everything.

QQQ · 1D · Alpha Structure
Structure · bullish
Alpha Structure on QQQ, daily: HH, HL, LH and LL tags on the swings, CHoCH, CHoCH+ and BOS breaks, volumetric order blocks with their dollar-volume tags, the major level rays, equal-high levels and amber sweep marks
QQQ, daily, on TradingView. The CHoCH+ at the March low, the run of HH and HL tags through the spring, the demand zones stacked under the rally with their volume split and dollar-volume tags, the two sweeps marked with an amber x, and the major level rays off the latest major high and low.

Key features

Two tiers, never double-tagged.
Internal structure tracks the short swings with dashed lines and small tags; major structure tracks the swings that matter with solid lines, large tags and level rays.
Volumetric order blocks.
Each zone is anchored to the candle that started the move and split into buying and selling volume, with a tag for the leg's dollar volume and the zone's share of all visible zones.
Clean by default.
Broken levels, filled gaps, invalidated zones and swept liquidity clear themselves. Trendlines freeze dotted where they broke.
One alert, every event.
Structure breaks at both tiers, trendline breaks, liquidity sweeps and zone entries, all through a single alert.

Two tiers of structure

A swing is confirmed once enough bars have printed on each side of it: five by default for the internal tier, forty for the major. Each confirmed swing is tagged HH, HL, LH or LL against the one before it. When a close breaks the last confirmed swing, the break is graded: BOS if it continues the prevailing structure, CHoCH if it flips it. A CHoCH that follows a failed push to a new extreme, a lower high before an upside break or a higher low before a downside one, is tagged CHoCH+, the stronger reversal.

The major tier adds level rays: the latest major high and low extend to the right as the chart's key levels until price breaks them, and that break is a major BOS or CHoCH.

Start with the major tier. A major CHoCH is the regime change; internal breaks are the detail inside it.

Labels on the chart

Swing tags
A confirmed swing high or low, named against the previous one: HH, HL, LH or LL.
Read: Small grey tags for the internal tier, large white ones for the major. The trend's shape without drawing a line.
Break of structure
A close through the last swing in the direction of the prevailing structure.
Read: Continuation. Dashed line and small tag for internal, solid line and large tag for major.
Change of character
A close through the last swing against the prevailing structure.
Read: The first sign of reversal. CHoCH+ is the one that followed a failed extension, and the one to take seriously.
Equal highs and lows
Two swings landed at the same price, within the tolerance.
Read: A dotted level where stops cluster. EQL is the mirror under price.
Liquidity sweep
Price wicked through an equal level and closed back on the other side.
Read: An amber x at the level, which is then consumed. Often the turn, not the breakout.

Order blocks and gaps

When structure breaks, the script finds the extreme candle of the leg that broke it, the lowest candle for a demand zone, the highest for supply, and draws the zone there, with a minimum height of half an average range and oversized candles trimmed to their body. The leg's volume is split into buying and selling, and the two halves of the zone grow with its age in that ratio, so the zone's shape says who built it. A dashed mean line runs right to a tag with the leg's dollar volume and this zone's share of every visible zone. Zones built on heavy volume get a heavier outline. A zone dies on a close through it by default; the setting can make that a wick, or a close through the midpoint.

Fair value gaps are three-bar imbalances, drawn as compact boxes of fixed width once the gap is at least a third of an average range. They shrink as price fills them and disappear once filled.

Liquidity and trendlines

Two swings within a quarter of an average range of each other make an equal level, drawn dotted and tagged EQH or EQL. A wick through it with a close back inside is a sweep, marked with an amber x; a clean close through it removes the level silently. Rising support and falling resistance lines draw themselves from consecutive swings and extend right; on a confirmed close through, the line freezes dotted at the break.

Settings

Defaults are tuned for daily trading on equities. Inputs are named by effect.

SettingDefaultWhat it changes
Structure sensitivity5The swing size for internal structure. Lower means more, smaller swings.
Major structure sensitivity40The swing size for major structure. Higher means fewer, bigger swings.
History shown16How many past structure breaks stay on the chart.
Zones kept per side5How many demand and supply zones stay live at once.
Strong zone volume factor1.5How heavy the anchor candle's volume must be for a heavy outline, against the 21-bar average.
Zone invalidationCloseWhat kills a zone: a close through it, a wick through it, or a close through its midpoint.
Gap significance0.35The minimum gap, in average ranges, for a fair value gap to print.
Level tolerance0.25How close two swings must be, in average ranges, to count as equal.
TogglesAll on; trendline break marks offVisuals only. Every engine and alert runs either way.

How to use it

The major tier and its rays set the direction. A BOS with the trend is continuation; a CHoCH against it is the first sign of reversal, and a CHoCH+ the one to weigh. Zones are where the move started: watch the first return to one, and use the volume split to judge which side built it. Unfilled gaps tend to pull price back; a filled gap is done. EQH and EQL are where stops sit, and a sweep that closes back inside is often the turn.

The Oscillator leads, the Bands confirm, and Structure shows the levels to act at. Each reads one thing; together they read the chart.

Alerts

Create one alert on Alpha Structure and pick "Any alert() function call". Every event arrives named: bullish and bearish BOS and CHoCH at both tiers, a falling trendline broken up, a rising one broken down, liquidity swept above or below, and price entering a demand or supply zone. The full walkthrough is in the Alerts guide.